Second black box of crashed Chinese plane not found yet, says official media
Beijing (PTI): The second black box of the crashed Chinese passenger plane has yet to be found, official media reported on Friday, retracting an earlier announcement that it has been recovered from the crash site.
The state-run China Daily had reported earlier quoting the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) that the second black box has been recovered.
However, the daily quoted a report by the state-run news agency Xinhua that the second black box had not been found.
The black box could offer vital clues about the crash in which 132 people are feared to have died.
The first black box, stated to be the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) which was recovered earlier, is being decoded at a laboratory in Beijing and the data downloading and analysis work is underway, officials said.
The second black box located in the back of the plane was stated to be the flight data recorder (FDR). The flight data recorder stores information about speed, altitude and direction, as well as pilot actions and performance of important systems.
The data of the Cockpit Voice Recorder was awaited keenly as China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735 sharply dropped from an altitude of 29,100 feet to 9,075 feet in just two minutes and 15 seconds, crashing into a mountainous area.
Zhu Tao, head of the aviation safety office of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said the possibility that the data storage unit of the cockpit voice recorder was damaged cannot be ruled out at present.
Hu Xiaobing, professor of School of Safety Science and Engineering of the Civil Aviation University of China, told state-run CGTN that this crash is very unusual for it being vertical. It seems to him, for some reason unknown yet, the pilots may have already become unconscious during the flight's steep descent.
The Boeing 737-800 plane with 132 people on board crashed on Monday in a village in Tengxian County in the city of Wuzhou. No survivors have been found so far.
China Eastern Airlines, which owned the crashed plane, and its subsidiaries temporarily grounded 223 Boeing 737-800 aircraft, and the airline has launched a sweeping safety overhaul, Liu Xiaodong, head of the airline's publicity department, told a press briefing.
All grounded aircraft are undergoing checks and maintenance according to the highest safety standards to ensure that they meet the airworthiness requirements, Liu said.
Liu added that 305 family members of 56 passengers on board the crashed plane arrived at Wuzhou by Thursday morning, with over 200 family members visiting the crash site.
On Thursday, pieces of engine wreckage from the crashed passenger plane were found.
The main impact point of the plane crash has been basically determined, Zhu said, adding that most of the plane wreckage was scattered within a radius of about 30 metres of the main impact point and the depth from the surface extends to about 20 metres underground.
So far, a total of 183 pieces of aircraft wreckage, some remains of victims and 21 pieces of belongings of victims have been found and handed over to the investigation team, Zheng Xi, head of the fire brigade of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region said.
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No need to wait till September 2025, Modi won't be PM after poll results in June: Shashi Tharoor
Mumbai, May 12: Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said the country need not have to wait till September 2025 as Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not remain at the helm after June 4, when results of Lok Sabha polls will be declared.
Tharoor's comments come a day after AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal claimed Modi is asking for votes for Home Minister Amit Shah, who will be his successor after Modi "retires" on turning 75 in September 2025.
"A new government will come to power at the Centre in June. There is no need to wait till September 2025," Tharoor said while responding to a query on Kejriwal's remarks.
Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, the Thiruvananthapuram MP alleged Modi has lowered the standard of public discourse and the language being used by him is not good for the country.
He justified the Congress' decision to decline the invitation for the consecration ceremony of Lord Ram temple in Ayodhya earlier this year, saying the BJP doesn't have copyright on Lord Ram.
"I go to temples for praying and not for doing politics. They are misusing the 'pran pratishtha' ceremony in Ayodhya for politics. Should I surrender Lord Ram to BJP?", Tharoor asked.
The Congress leader further claimed the BJP has failed to hold a substantive dialogue on issues like rising inflation, unemployment, the failure to double the income of farmers income and the decline in the income of 80 per cent of the population.
Replying to a query on Kejriwal's remarks on the "retirement age" of Modi, Tharoor said, ''Will BJP make the exception for one person? Anyway, we need not have to wait till September 2025. Modi will not be PM after June 2024 (when the results of Lok Sabha elections will be out),''
Tharoor cited "compulsions of coalition politics" when asked why Congress hasn't named even a single Muslim candidate in Lok Sabha polls from Maharashtra.
"In coalition politics, a party has to contest lesser number of seats," he added.
He said making concessions in the larger interest of the alliance cannot be called a surrender.
The Congress is part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance in Maharashtra along with Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar).
Tharoor claimed the BJP has failed to give representation to Muslims in the government.
"All Muslim leaders who were part of the Vajpayee era were phased out after Modi's first term (as prime minister),'' he said.
"Allies are standing with us. There is mutual respect unlike in the BJP-led NDA where Akali Dal and BJD have spurned the BJP," Tharoor said, adding that former PMs Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh ran the coalition governments excellently.
He claimed Modi wants to run the parliamentary system of democracy in a Presidential style.
According to Tharoor, the Congress' priority is to protect the essential character of cosmopolitan Mumbai. '
"After three phases of polling, a change is visible in the air, " he said.
Tharoor campaigned for Congress nominees Varsha Gaikwad and Bhushan Patil who are in the fray from Mumbai North Central and Mumbai North seats, respectively, against BJP's Ujjwal Nikam and Union minister Piyush Goyal.
Voting for all six Parliamentary constituencies in Mumbai is scheduled for May 20.
"I am confident that there will be good results in the favour of Congress," Tharoor added.
